


The Fortress of Deanitude

by Desirae



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 15x20 coda, Angel Castiel (Supernatural), Canon Compliant, Coda, Dean Winchester Deserves Nice Things, Dean Winchester Keeps Miracle the Dog, Domestic Castiel/Dean Winchester, Domestic Fluff, Episode Fix-It: s15e20 Carry On, First Kiss, Fix-It of Sorts, Love Confessions, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post Finale, Post Series, Rating will change, domestic heaven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:08:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27686725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Desirae/pseuds/Desirae
Summary: Castiel and Dean reunite in heaven.Sam is still a cheerleader.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 69
Kudos: 306





	The Fortress of Deanitude

**Author's Note:**

> Hugs to all of you who are having a hard time right now. I feel you. Just remember: Destiel is canon and they can't take that away from us. 
> 
> Love to my Teapot, Zoelily, and all my Trash-canon girls. We'll get through it together, my friends.

Dean never wanted to tell Sam, but death had felt like a relief. Not that he’d intended to die that day, but who was he kidding? That was always the way it was gonna go down. In some podunk town in some dirty warehouse or-as, it turned out- a broken-down barn on a routine hunt. It happened so fast, in a blink, and this time there was no coming back. No deals. No Cas and his mojo. 

Dean thought he could be okay with that. He’d needed Sam to be okay with it, too. 

Dean was proud of all they had done, standing up to Chuck, taking back their free will. But despite what he’d said about living for Cas’ sacrifice, it had felt hollow. Dean couldn’t even process what Cas had said to him in his final goodbye because his mind had been suspended on a loop of _I love you, I love you, I love you._ People often thought Dean was just a pretty face, but he wasn’t that dense. Cas had confessed his love, and it wasn’t in the brotherly sense. 

It was something he hadn’t thought possible, not in the romantic way his best friend had clearly meant, and as Dean had sobbed against the cold wall, it had been for the loss at the chance of something he hadn’t even known was on the table. Those first few days, it was only the angel’s words that kept him going, and of course, Sam.

Dean lived and died for his brother, and he would never be sorry for it; he lived because Cas deserved better than him just giving up. So he got up every day. Dean snuggled with Miracle in the mornings and wondered if it was a substitute for angel feathers. He was too touch starved for comfort to care. Dean made breakfast every morning while Sam went on his run; hell, he’d even found a few places to apply for work. In the end, though, he mainly continued to hunt. It’s who Dean was. It was what he did best. But fuck, if he wasn’t tired. Dean felt his age. He was pretty sure Cas had been the only one who remembered that Dean was technically in his eighties. In his soul anyway. 

Fuck, he missed him. Dean missed their quiet conversations in the Impala, the evenings at the bunker where they would talk late into the night over a glasses of scotch that made Dean more open and loose-lipped. Cas never made Dean feel less than. When Dean talked to Cas, he listened, like what Dean said was important and had meaning. Like he was smart. What was the expression? Love is blind? Dean absently rubbed at the ache in his chest. Yeah, he definitely missed Cas.

He was here, according to Bobby. Well, not _here_ , here, but out of the empty. Off being a super duo with Jack, and Dean was proud. Hell, he was over the moon Cas wasn’t off playing Sleeping Beauty, but fuck if he wasn’t hurt that Cas wasn’t here to greet him. Especially considering what Dean thought was an hour-long joyride had turned out to be fifty years on earth. 

Dean glanced at Sam in the passenger seat, his brother looking content to be in the familiar spot. When Dean had pulled over on the bridge, it was like he just knew. He knew Sam was there, lumbering behind him like the giant sasquatch he was. It had felt like both forever and five minutes since he’d seen his baby brother. Time worked differently here, as Bobby said. 

Was Cas pissed at him? In hindsight, he supposed that dying so soon after Cas’ grand sacrifice was kind of shitty of him. Then again, if Jack had released Cas from the empty before Dean died, and the angel still hadn’t been to see him, well, that was even shittier.

All he knew was that he wanted to see Cas. His brother was here by his side, and that felt right, but damn it, there were things he needed to say, and he was pretty sure this level of annoyance of not being able to do so didn’t belong in heaven. Dean was supposed to be all at peace and zen and shit right now. 

It was surreal, listening to Sam talk about how he’d finally done it—gotten his apple pie life. Eileen had shown up in a hospital near Sioux Falls. They retired as much as they could from life and bought a house near Jody and the girls. Dean didn’t tear up when he heard about his nephew, but he did mock Sam when he mentioned what Eileen called the _Winchester family shrine,_ that he had in his library.

“In my defense, it didn’t start that way. It’s just where I kept all the family stuff from before. It’s not like we had had a ton of opportunity to take pictures. Except for that time you made Cas pose in that stupid cowboy hat,” Sam said, and Dean tightened his hands on the steering wheel even as his ears burned. 

“Where is he, by the way? If Cas is back, why isn’t he here? “

“Guess you’ll just have to ask him,” Dean said stubbornly. “And where the fuck is my dog?” He didn’t have to see Sam roll his eyes to know he did at the attempt at a subject change. But seriously, where was Miracle?

“You’re telling me that it’s been fifty years, and you still haven’t gotten your shit together and told him how you feel?” There was clear exasperation in Sam’s voice, and Dean once again regretted ever telling Sam about Cas’ love-confession before he sacrificed himself for Dean.

“Shut up, Samantha; it was fifty years for you. It’s been like an hour and a half for me,” Dean grumbled, taking a turn he knew would instinctually bring him back to the little section of Hunter’s Heaven, as he’d taken to calling it in his mind, to the cabin he somehow knew was waiting for him.

“Dean, come on.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Sammy. Maybe he regrets telling me. Maybe he didn’t mean it.”

Sam snorted, “Dean, the guy went to the empty for you. I’m pretty sure he meant it.”

“Not just for me,” Dean muttered and rolled his eyes at Sam’s disbelieving laugh. “ Alright then, why do you think he hasn’t been around then?” 

"I don't know, Dean, maybe he's embarrassed. He told you that he wanted what he couldn't have, meaning you. That's a lot."

Dean considered Sam's words and felt a glimmer of hope as he pulled down a narrow road, smiling broadly when he saw the sign ahead of them.

" The Fortress of Deanitude? Really?" Sam teased.

"Hey, Cas and Jack created this, not me," Dean said. "Still fucking awesome, though," Dean said as he pulled in front of a decent-sized log cabin. A rippling lake sparkled behind his new home, and the long wooden dock stretching out over the water called to him.

Sam went inside to explore. It was by an unspoken agreement that he would stay with Dean, until Eileen made her way here. 

"I’ll be there in a minute," Dean said when Sam turned questioning eyes on him. "Gonna go check out the water," Dean said, meaningfully, which was code for _I'm going to go pray to Cas and hope I still have a shot at this._

As he made his way down the pine needle strewed yard down to the little beach, Dean tried to steady his breathing as nerves threatened to strangle him. He stepped onto the whitewashed dock and walked to the end, boots clapping against the boards and echoing across the water.

He'd barely closed his eyes to whisper Cas' name when he heard the flutter of wings. 

"Hello, Dean,"

The words were like a balm on his soul, and the tears started to slip down his cheeks before he could even say, "Heya, Cas."

Every thought of conversation went out the proverbial window when Dean turned and launched himself at the angel, wrapping him in Dean's arms, his face buried in Cas' neck as he sobbed silently. He smelled of ozone and stormy weather, and Dean breathed it in, allowing himself to revel in the contact.

He didn’t know how long they stood there, clinging to one another, but eventually, Dean was calm enough to pull back.

"Where were you?" He doesn't mean for the words to come out harsh or accusatory, but Cas doesn't seem to mind, as he looked at Dean fondly, a softness in his baby blue eyes.

"Dean, when the empty came for me, I was at peace. I had confessed my feelings, and I felt free. When Jack brought me back, you were my very first thought. I longed to see you, but there were things I had to do here. Things that couldn’t wait.”

“Like build me a cabin in the woods?”

Castiel’s lips curled up in a smile before he shook his head, looking at Dean intently. “Among other things. I had not expected you so soon,” Cas’ voice was sad now. “I thought I had more time to get things ready.”

Dean rubbed the back of his neck and spoke, almost sheepishly. “I know. Kinda sucky that you sacrificed yourself for me, just so I could get ganked a few months later, huh?”

Castiel reached out to clasp Dean’s shoulder, and he swallowed hard as Cas’ fingers dug into his flesh. “I would never regret any sacrifice I've made for you, Dean. I only wish you had had a chance to enjoy your freedom a little more.

“Cas, you know what I always told Sammy that I wanted? If we ever retired, if we got that break? The three of us, on the beach somewhere, with our toes in the sand. That never changed. Instead, we got more of the same, only less….apocolypsy. It wasn't the same without you. And I was tired, Cas. “ 

“Are you telling me you were suicidal?” Castiel asked sharply, and Dean shook his head. 

“No. No, man, I wouldn’t do that to Sam. I sure as hell wouldn’t disrespect you like that after everything.”

“Dean, I didn’t tell you I loved you because I expected reciprocity.”

“I know that,” Dean said hurriedly.

“Especially when I already know how you feel about me.”

Dean's mouth fell open at that. “Wait. What?”

“Dean, we've been over this. I know you. I can feel your longing, and I can hear your prayers.”

“But… but when you said that you knew you couldn’t have that you wanted…” Dean trailed off, confused.

“I meant that in our lives, in our work, the greater good would always come first. As long as there were people who needed to be saved, you, my dearest, righteous, man," Cas observed him with a warm, proud expression, "You would continue to fight, even when it meant denying yourself.”

Dean could only gape at Cas as the angel stepped in closer, the toe of his shoes bumping Dean’s boots.

“You don’t have to save anyone here, Dean,” Castiel whispered. Dean let out a ragged breath as he tipped his forehead to Cas’, feeling soothed at the implication of his angel's words.

“I love you, Cas,” Dean breathed out, huffing a soft laugh at the lightness he felt in having finally said it out loud. 

Castiel’s pulled back, face beaming in a smile so wide that Cas’ eyes crinkled at the corners, and Dean thought he was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

“I love you too, Dean. So very much,” Cas said reverently, and Dean felt reborn. Locking their arms around each other’s waists, they stood in the setting sun at the end of the dock.

“Is this the part where you kiss me now?” it was said with such innocent enthusiasm that Dean had to laugh, dragging Cas in closer by the lapels of his trusty tie.

“Hell, yeah, Cas,” Dean rasped as the angel nuzzled at the underside of Dean’s jaw, a whisper against his skin until suddenly Cas’ lips were there, soft and pillowy. It was tremulous and sweet and perfect, and when Castiel’s tongue shyly swept into Dean’s mouth, he actually whimpered. That only seemed to embolden Cas further, and he edged in closer, a hand creeping up the back of Dean’s jacket to caress his nape before fisting in Dean’s hair. 

Such a rush of love overwhelmed him as Dean found himself clinging to Cas, his own hands coming up to cup his perfect face. The kiss deepened into something exploratory, and Dean enjoyed the tease and tussle of his tongue against Cas’ and could have been happy to do so for the rest of eternity. 

It was the loud whoop of exaltation from the porch of his cabin that had Dean and Cas slowly breaking their kiss, both now with kiss swollen lips and ridiculous grins.

“Uh, yeah, so Sammy’s here. He’s gonna stay with us until Eileen gets here. That’s okay, right?” Dean asked. “I mean, I know you don’t sleep, and this ain’t the bunker but-”

“Anywhere you are is home to me, Dean,” Castiel said happily, as he waved at Sam. “Come on, let’s go in, and I’ll tell you and Sam about what Jack and I have been doing.”

Dean wanted to pinch himself when Castiel laced their hands together and led them off of the dock. Somehow sensing Dean’s nerves, Cas squeezed his hand as he tossed Dean a smile over his shoulder.

“Good things do happen, Dean,” Castiel reminded him gently, leading him up the porch steps to where his brother was waiting. The angel turned around and whistled. Dean let out a joyous laugh when Miracle bounded up the steps and jumped at his legs.

“Yeah,” Dean said, scratching his dog’s ear and feeling a warm glow as Sam pulled Cas into a big bear hug. “I guess they do.”

  
  
  


The End


End file.
